Caroline McWilliams dies at 64; actress was on TV's 'Benson' and 'Soap'

After acting on stage and TV, Caroline McWilliams "hit her stride" directing.

After acting on stage and TV, Caroline McWilliams "hit her stride" directing.

Keith Thursby

Caroline McWilliams, an actress and director best known to television audiences for her work on the series "Benson" and "Soap," has died. She was 64.

McWilliams died Feb. 11 at her home in Los Angeles from complications of multiple myeloma, her family said.

Caroline Margaret McWilliams was born April 4, 1945, in Seattle but grew up in Barrington, R.I. She graduated in 1966 with a bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Her first break on television was on "Guiding Light," a longtime CBS soap opera in which she appeared for several years beginning in 1969. While in New York, she also started to build her stage career.

McWilliams' credits included "Boccaccio," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Rothschilds," along with productions for the New York Shakespeare Festival and the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn.